Autumn Sonata (1978)

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“One must learn to live. I practice every day. My biggest obstacle is I don’t know who I am. I grope blindly. If anyone loves me as I am I may dare at last to look at myself. For me, that possibility is fairly remote.” – Viktor

Number of Times Seen – 1 (27 Oct 2019)

Brief Synopsis – A successful mother visits her ill daughter after years of being apart and each has many complaints about the way they were treated by the other over the years.

My Take on it – I have never been the biggest fan of Ingmar Bergman films and most of the time, they complete bore me since they have very simple or uninteresting plots that are meant to be understood on various existential or allegorical levels.

This film fits perfectly into that niche also and despite it only being 90 minutes long, it was torturous getting through this one.

There is no reason to revel in these characters or their lives because they aren’t developed well enough for us to care about them regarding their past, their present or even their future.

The overall story deals with reconciliation between mother and daughter but since these characters aren’t fleshed out enough, it is inconsequential whether they find a way to repair their past or not.

For her performance in this movie, Ingrid Bergman was somehow nominated for Best Actress at the Oscars.

Bottom Line – Another really boring Bergman film that is more of an allegory of life than an enjoyable dramatic story. The characters aren’t developed well enough and it’s quite difficult to care about any of them. The overall point of the story is all about reconciliation, but since the characters don’t feel fleshed out enough, it’s very easy to feel indifferent towards these characters as to whether they are able to find a way to mend their pasts or not. Ingrid Bergman was nominated for an Oscar for Best Actress for her work in this film.

MovieRob’s Favorite Trivia – The film struck very close to home for Ingrid Bergman to the extent that she was quite shocked when she read the screenplay for the first time. It deals with a self-centered artist who leaves her children in their formative years to go off and pursue her career. During the late 40s, Bergman herself became a cause celebre by abandoning her family to run off with Italian film director, Roberto Rossellini. (From IMDB)